Urad dal in pregnancy: how much to eat and how to cook it

It can be, as a fully cooked dal. Urad dal carries protein, iron and folate, and it fits the diet WHO's antenatal guidance describes: a healthy diet in pregnancy comes from a variety of foods, with beans among those named. ICMR-NIN is more specific: good quality protein comes from cereals and pulses combined in a 3:1 ratio, and its daily food guide for a normal pregnancy suggests 80 g of pulses. Urad dal during pregnancy is the same food it is outside pregnancy; only the cooking rules tighten.

Two cautions shape everything below: cook the dal fully, and keep raw or lightly cooked sprouts off the plate. Neither is about urad alone; both are about safe eating in pregnancy.

Per 100 g of dry urad dal, IFCT 2017 records 23.06 g of protein, 4.67 mg of iron and 88.75 mcg of folate, with 11.93 g of fibre and 1.69 g of fat. From 30 g of the dry dal, a cooked katori works out to about 6.9 g of protein, 1.4 mg of iron and 26.6 mcg of folate.

ICMR-NIN recommends daily iron and folic acid supplements, 60 mg of elemental iron and 0.5 mg of folic acid, from the 12th week of pregnancy up to the first six months of lactation, and still counts folate-rich foods as essential for the growth of the fetal brain. It also says iron from plant foods is poorly bioavailable, and its advice for pregnant women is to include vitamin C-rich fruits such as guava and orange to improve that absorption.

Per 100 g raw, edible portion. Composition: IFCT 2017 (ICMR-NIN). GI: University of Sydney GI database. — means not reported. These are average values for the food; the label on a pack gives the values for that product.

First trimester

ICMR-NIN calls folic acid supplements in the first 28 days of pregnancy essential and advises a 0.5 mg folic acid supplement through the first 12 weeks; for this trimester it asks for a nutrient-rich balanced diet. A katori of urad dal adds about 26.6 mcg of folate from food, a small share beside the supplement.

Second trimester

From the 12th week, ICMR-NIN's iron and folic acid supplements begin, and from the second trimester the guidelines add 350 kcal a day to the balanced diet of a sedentary woman. A katori of well-cooked urad dal brings about 6.9 g of protein toward that day.

Third trimester

The extra 350 kcal carries on, and the food rules stay the same: fully cooked dal, no raw sprouts. A 2019 review of pulses notes that most people who get gas adjust within a few weeks if they keep eating pulses; it does not look at pregnancy specifically.

For a normal pregnancy, ICMR-NIN's daily food guide suggests 80 g of pulses (raw weight), a little under three katoris of cooked dal at 30 g of dry dal a katori. The guidelines call the figure suggestive: the cereal and pulse amounts rise or fall with body weight, calorie needs and activity. How much of that is urad dal is for you and your doctor to decide.

Wash the pulses well, but not repeatedly; soak them, then boil or pressure-cook until completely soft: ICMR-NIN's guidelines rank boiling or pressure cooking as the surest route to better nutritional quality in pulses, and a 2019 review found no evidence that properly cooked pulses contain harmful lectins or trypsin inhibitors, adding that following soaking and cooking recommendations can completely eliminate lectin activity. Boiling with just enough water, without draining, keeps the folate in the pot. The how to soak urad dal page has the soak times; the urad dal for babies page shares the same cooking discipline for the youngest eaters, and the urad dal hub holds the complete picture of the dal.

• Raw or lightly cooked sprouts. The US FDA names pregnant women among those who should avoid sprouts that are raw or lightly cooked, of any kind, and no cooking method on its page makes sprouts safe for these groups; sprouted urad stays off the plate for now.
• Undercooked dal. Soaking and thorough cooking are what eliminate the lectins in pulses; a dal that is still hard has not been cooked far enough.
• Tea with meals. ICMR-NIN advises keeping tea away from before, during or soon after a meal, and while taking iron supplements, so the iron in the food and the supplement is not wasted.
• The festive version. The urad dal laddu recipe is sweetened with jaggery, and ICMR-NIN's diet chart for pregnant women asks for added sugar to be restricted.

Pregnancy care is individual: anaemia, blood pressure, diabetes in pregnancy and other conditions change what a day should hold. The portions and nutrient numbers on this page describe the food, not your prescription; supplements and their doses are the doctor's call. When in doubt about how urad dal fits your pregnancy plate, talk to your doctor or dietitian; the antenatal visits are where the details get decided.

Is urad dal good for pregnancy?

It can be, as a fully cooked dal: IFCT 2017 records 23.06 g of protein, 4.67 mg of iron and 88.75 mcg of folate per 100 g of dry urad dal. Keep raw sprouts and undercooked dal off the plate, take the supplements your doctor prescribes, and ask at your antenatal visit how much dal suits your day.

Can urad dal cause gas?

It may, since pulses as a group can. The usual explanation, set out in a 2019 review, is that pulses hold galacto-oligosaccharides that pass undigested to the colon, where they ferment and gas forms; the same review says this explanation has recently been questioned. Persistent gas or discomfort in pregnancy is worth raising at an antenatal visit.

Can black gram be sprouted?

Yes: ICMR-NIN describes sprouting, like soaking and fermenting, as a household method that improves the digestibility of legumes. But in pregnancy the FDA's caution applies: the FDA names pregnant women among the groups who should not eat raw or lightly cooked sprouts, whatever the kind, and gives no way of cooking them that makes them safe for these groups. For the pregnancy, the safe form is cooked dal.

Is urad dal good for diabetes?

It can fit, in a measured portion. Urad's GI is 43, from one test done in India, which falls under the low-band cut-off of 55, and a cooked katori carries about 15.3 g of carbohydrate. If gestational diabetes is in the picture, the meal plan is the doctor's to set; the urad dal for diabetes page carries the full numbers.

Does black gram have protein?

Yes: IFCT 2017 records 23.06 g of protein per 100 g of dry dal, and about 6.9 g in one cooked katori, from 30 g of dry urad. ICMR-NIN's food guide for a normal pregnancy lists grams and dals among its pulses and describes them as rich sources of protein.